


Slit Pupil

by PeriPeriChicken



Category: Epithet Erased (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cats, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Ambiguous Relationships, Canon Asexual Character, Canon Autistic Character, Cat Cafés, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Night Terrors, Nightmares, Optional shipping, Other, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:46:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27716998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeriPeriChicken/pseuds/PeriPeriChicken
Summary: This is a oneshot for my Epurrthet Erased AU, an alternate universe where all the characters are now cats in a Cat Cafe. I won't bother with a huge summary since the story is fairly simple. Ramsey wakes up from a nightmare and Percy is there to comfort him.I hope you enjoy my first ever post here!
Relationships: Percival "Percy" King & Ramsey Murdoch, Percival "Percy" King/Ramsey Murdoch
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	Slit Pupil

**Author's Note:**

> Just in case you wanted to know, here is a link to my tumblr that will show you what each cat looks like -> https://periperi-chicken.tumblr.com/post/635801081985794048/epurrthet-erased-au  
> This is the first fanfic I have ever finished and felt confident enough to post, so I hope you enjoy it :)  
> I also have to thank BringOnThe_Synazzy for creating the ‘Great at Cop’ Series(link here https://archiveofourown.org/series/1782286 ). Their story is the best thing I have ever read and they have inspired me to post my story and just inspired me in general. After you have finished reading this, Please go read their story.

The first thing Ramsey noticed as he opened his eyes was that he didn’t know where he was. He didn’t remember coming here, where ever here was. It was some kind of woodland; he knew that much by the maze of trees surrounding him. Something was off though and he couldn’t quite think of what it was. He looked around for any clue as to where he was. One odd thing he spotted was the strange shape of the leaves. He wasn’t any kind of expert but he had never seen any kind of tree with droplet-shaped leaves. Stranger still was the masses of the leaves freshly fallen on the ground. In fact, he could barely see the dirt ground through all of the leaves. In Autumn, this would be normal but it was the beginning of summer and the trees were thick and vibrant with bright green leaves. Huh, weird. 

He felt the ground beneath his paws, expecting mud or leaves but rather wooden floorboards, like the ones found on rotting, old porch decks. Double weird. Ramsey stuck his nose in the air but could smell nothing but mud. He opened his mouth slightly, hoping to catch the scent of another cat but he couldn’t catch any scent at all. It felt like he had somehow stepped into a part of the world undiscovered by any other creature. He felt his heartbeat begin to climb in his chest but ignored it. No; there had to be something here... right? 

Getting nowhere, he decided to stay quiet and listen for anything to point him in the right direction. He closed his eyes and tried to listen for a moment. No traffic? Normally he could hear at least a car or two, even on the quietest of days. Just how far from home was he? He listened again. No dogs barking or babies crying. Normally that would have been a relief but now it just felt eerie. He scrunched his eyes together desperately trying to hear any kind of noise. 

But nothing. 

No cars, no trains, no babies crying, no dogs barking, no humans talking, no clattering of trash cans, no birds tweeting, no bugs chirping, no wind through the trees. 

Just silence. 

Ramsey could have heard a leaf falling to the forest floor but the only thing he heard next filled his stomach with dread. Far, far away, he could hear the high-pitched scream of a child. It wasn’t a scream of fear or happiness but instead, it was one Ramsey knew well, one filled with pure unfiltered malice and disregard for anything lesser. It was still faint but it soon multiplied and became louder. He looked around frantically for the source but he couldn’t find one. He tried to run but the voices followed and became so loud that he couldn’t hear himself breathing. Was he even breathing? 

When he couldn’t run anymore, Ramsey collapsed, hindlegs shaking in both fear and exhaustion. He instinctually curled up on himself, set his ears back and tucked his tail. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest so hard it ached. He looked up and the trees around him began turning red, their leaves falling all around him. Then Ramsey felt it; a deep, searing pain burst through one of his eyes. It cracked through every nerve in his skull with a burning fury. He yowled at the top of his lungs as the pain became unbearable. He felt his eye become wet with blood which trickled down his face onto the floor below. Looking down he saw something that made his stomach turn. In the pool of blood that accumulated he could see his face reflected. Where his eye used to be was now a deep, cavernous, gaping hole. Ramsey stared back at his half-eyeless reflection. His eye felt like it had been ripped out of its socket and his body felt weak to the point of caving in but now he couldn’t help but look deep into the nothingness that was his eyes with horror and panic. All he could do now was stand and stare as the yelling became louder and the world closed in around him. 

\------------------------------

Ramsey woke up with a start. He opened his eye and immediately stood up, causing the cat tree he had been sleeping on to wiggle beneath his paws. Mindlessly, Ramsey pelted down the tree, skidded across the laminate floor and clambered under one of the cafés couches. Panic panged through his body, making pain claw through his eye socket. Everything was too loud and bright now and it was blinding. He turned around and placed his tail and paws in front of him and started licking them with an unthinking, terror-filled intensity. He tore at his paws and tail even when they became red and sore. 

Then Ramsey heard a voice -a familiar one- though it was hard to pay much attention to it. Then he heard it again, calling out his name but he didn’t stop what he was doing. The next voice was right in his ear, deafeningly loud this time, shocking him enough that he snarled in the direction it came from. It came again though, quieter but clearer. 

“Ramsey!”. It was Percy. 

“P-perc?” Ramsey mewled in reply, voice trembling like a kitten. 

“Yes, it's me, Ramsey. Are you alright?” 

“I-I can’t...um...no” 

“Do you want me to sit with you or should I leave you alone?” 

“Just s-stay" 

Percy shuffled towards Ramsey. He felt her soft fur brush up against his skin and he began to calm down, if only slightly. They were quiet for a moment, just appreciating the company of the other. When he began to lick his paws and tail again, Percy spoke up. 

“Do you want to talk about what's going on?” 

“Do I have to?” Ramsey groaned in return. 

“No, you don’t. But it can help to talk to others.” 

“I guess...I don’t know. I don’t think I can right now.” 

“That’s fine. I’ll still be here if you need me, alright?” Percy reassured, putting her head under his neck, Ramsey relaxing further from the support. Now everything was a bit clearer for him so only now did he realize how much he was shaking. 

“Man, I really am pathetic, aren't I?” Ramsey tried to laugh but he couldn’t hide how his voice wavered. Percy lifted her head and stared into Ramsey’s eye and he could see how upset she was at his words, despite her attempts to look strong. 

“I don’t think you’re pathetic, Ramsey. I think you are worried about something and I think you need help to feel better. Although I don’t quite understand where your feelings come from, I understand the emotions you are going through. I am going through similar issues myself.” Percy lost eye contact for a second, ears turned backwards slightly, embarrassed. Ramsey realized it must have been a sensitive issue for her. He turned his head away in shame; how could he make her bring up something that personal? Percy continued, however, nudging his face to look back at her. “I just want you to know that you don’t have to struggle alone. I want to do anything I can to help you. I care about you, Ramsey.” 

Those last words made his heartbeat quicker, not out of fear anymore but...something else. He couldn’t quite place what emotion it was but he was tired. He would have to leave that question for another night. 

“Thanks, Perc” 

The two sat for a bit longer, the only noises around being the constant tick of the cat-shaped clock and the occasional rumble of a passing car. As the sun began to rise, Percy spoke again. 

“Are you feeling okay now Ramsey?” Ramsey didn’t reply. Percy was confused; he wasn't shaking now, in fact, his body was very relaxed now, so why the silence? She turned to face him. “Ramsey are you- oh” So that’s why; he was fast asleep. She made sure she was quiet now but watched as he slept. Though she had been living at the Café for a while, she had never truly had a moment to observe Ramsey. Looking at his paws, she saw how sore they looked. Did he lose all his fur through stress-grooming? When she had first met him, she had assumed that the hair loss was from fleas. She never meant anything disrespectful by the assumption but realistically, he was a stray cat once and fleas were always more common in strays and ferals and it wasn’t like took care to avoid them. Yet now she knew more about him and it was becoming more and more apparent that he didn’t take care of himself at all. No wonder everyone said he looked like a rat. With his bald tail and paws and scraggy overall appearance, if you caught him in the right lighting, he would have been a dead ringer for a rat. Percy felt her heart sink to the pit of her stomach at the idea. Going through trauma after trauma on his own, becoming so stressed he resorted to hurting himself out of desperation and then being laughed at by others because of the way it made him look? Just the thought on its own made Percy’s heart tense in her chest. And that wasn’t even touching on his eye. It was obvious that it was sewn up by a vet and had been healed for a while but it was also clear that it hadn’t always been that way. It was heavily scarred and reddened from where it was damaged but never healed quite right. How long had he been a stray for his eye to look that bad? How long had it hurt for? It must have a lot hurt for a very long time. And without any medicine to take the pain away? Percy couldn’t even fathom the levels of pain he endured. Percy sighed as she looked at the sleeping body of her friend. Part of her wanted to wake him up, tell him to get something to drink and then they could watch the sunrise together but right now he looked so peaceful. He wasn’t scared or hurting, simply resting quietly. She hoped he would talk to her about his problem next time before it got worse but she knew she couldn’t force him. She would just have to wait until he was ready.


End file.
